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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Thorner: Twin 'botched' government programs: ObamaCare and Common Core

By Nancy Thorner -

Who could forget about the botched ObamaCare roll out of last fall by the Obama administration when on September 26 Obama said, "... most of the stories you'll hear about how ObamaCare just can't work is just not based on facts. Every time they have predicted something not working, it's worked." But when people did start shopping for insurance coverage on October 1, Healthcare.gov crashed.

This past Sunday just happened to be the 4-year anniversary of Obamacare, the president's signature domestic policy achievement. But despite the wishful thinking of the Obama Administration, and many Washington Democrats, the American people are getting hit with higher premiums and fewer choices, while seniors on Medicare are left with much uncertainly and confusion over what kind of care they will receive.

Americans certainly aren't celebrating Obamacare's 4th anniversary. The results of the latest Pew Research survey show 53% of respondents approving of Obamacare, while 41% approve. Opposition to Obamacare is just one point shy of the poll's all-time high.

Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are on record to spend $52 million on paid media in a final push before the end of the open enrollment on March 31. Even so, signups for Obamacare have fallen short of early estimates of seven million now to a hoped for six million. $52 million represents $17 per head on Obamacare ads

Isn't it enough to have one botched government program that adversely affect many more Americans than it portend to help?

While everyone has heard about Obamacare, this is not true with Common Core. In actuality Common core is a United Nations UNESCO global education agenda. The Tides Foundation in conjunction with UNESCO and Bill Gates of Microsoft had Common Core prepared prior to Obama's election and once elected, the funding was incorporated into the Stimulus bill of 2009 and funded without knowledge or consent of Congress as usual. Most telling is that Arne Duncan, Obama's Secretary of Education, is a strong proponent with UNESCO. A "Race to the Top" grant program was used to coerce the States into signing onto the Curriculum sight unseen in 2010. If states did not agree to implement the Common core Curriculum, the education grant monies for the States was withheld.

With Common Core curriculum, students will no longer be taught the usual math, literature, history, science or social studies. The curriculum as designed is even now changing how children learn. Much of this nation's history has been distorted or eliminated by the authors of Common Core. It is a one size fits all approach to education which doesn't address the unique individually of each child. Most disturbing is that the progressive movement will have achieved its goal if Common Core is allowed to flourish with its indoctrination of students who as adults will be in tune with extreme leftist ideology. I am not suggesting that this will happen in the U.S., but millions of German young people were won over to Nazism in the classroom.

Not unlike Obamacare, ads have been launched but by big business who want Common Core imposed to blunt the momentum of conservatives and grassroots parents across the country in their efforts to stop the implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards, but a rose by any other name is still Common Core! A coalition including the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commercehave launched a national advertising blitz stemming from a sense that this is a make-or-break moment for the Common Core which has come under siege in many states who had originally signed on to Common Core in 2010

On February 19, 2014, Dennis Van Roekel, President of the nation's largest teachers union, the National Education Association (NEA) posted a letter to union members at NEAToday.org, breaking with his administration pals by admitting that Common core implementation had been botched. This confession followed intense teachers' representative dissatisfaction with Common Core during the 2013 NEA convention at which delegates from the floor introduced two measures, both of which failed to pass. The measures condemned Obama’s education policies outright and were critical of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Teachers and parents knew several years ago that CC was seriously flawed. No one wanted to hear those complaints. Many were labeled as extremists, malcontents, and nut-jobs. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan even said he found it “fascinating” that Common Core opponents were “white suburban moms who — all of a sudden — their child isn’t as brilliant as they thought they were. . . .” Some wonder if Duncan is equally fascinated now that the one finding fault with Common Core is his union ally.

In his letter Van Roekel maintains that “scuttling these standards” is a bad idea, but still maintains that "the union wants states to make a strong course correction and move forward.” (Tying teacher evaluations to student test results remains a sore spot that has never been popular with teachers unions.)

Van Roekel further suggests allowing teachers “time to field-test the standards in classrooms to determine what works and what needs adjustment.” As standard have started to be implemented in 46 states and the District of Columbia doesn't it seem a little late to be field testing?

According to the NGA (National Governors Association) the CCSSO (Council of Chief State School Officers), and their agent, Achieve, Inc., teacher input had been included. Not so claims Van Roekel who wrote:

The very people expected to deliver universal access to high quality standards with high quality instruction have not had the opportunity to share their expertise and advice about how to make [CC] implementation work for all students, educators, and parents.

Van Roekel’s letter ends with this proclamation:

There’s too much at stake for our children and our country to risk getting this wrong. That is exactly what Common Core opponents have been saying for years.

Illinois accepted Common Core sight unseen in 2010. Endorsed wholeheartedly by the Illinois Education Union, Common Core is now being implemented across the state. You have a chance to respond with positive action.

This Wednesday, State Representative Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) will be presenting HR 543 before the House Elementary & Secondary Education Committee. This resolution will urge the Illinois State Board of Education to delay the implementation of Common Core Standards until a study is conducted showing the costs associated with Common Core.

Take ACTION:Click HERE to create a witness slip in support of Rep. Kay's bill to delay the implementation of Common Core. Enter information into all the fields. Click on Proponent and Record of Appearance Only. Type in the Captcha Numbers, check the Terms of Agreement, then click on Create a Slip.

If able to attend, the hearing for HR 543 will be held on Wednesday, March 26th, 8:00 a.m. in room D-1 of the Stratton building located at 401 S. Spring Street in Springfield.

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Thorner: Twin 'botched' government programs: ObamaCare and Common Core

By Nancy Thorner -

Who could forget about the botched ObamaCare roll out of last fall by the Obama administration when on September 26 Obama said, "... most of the stories you'll hear about how ObamaCare just can't work is just not based on facts. Every time they have predicted something not working, it's worked." But when people did start shopping for insurance coverage on October 1, Healthcare.gov crashed.

This past Sunday just happened to be the 4-year anniversary of Obamacare, the president's signature domestic policy achievement. But despite the wishful thinking of the Obama Administration, and many Washington Democrats, the American people are getting hit with higher premiums and fewer choices, while seniors on Medicare are left with much uncertainly and confusion over what kind of care they will receive.

Americans certainly aren't celebrating Obamacare's 4th anniversary. The results of the latest Pew Research survey show 53% of respondents approving of Obamacare, while 41% approve. Opposition to Obamacare is just one point shy of the poll's all-time high.